L'elisir d'amore

by Gaetano Donizetti

Gran Teatre del Liceu http://www.liceubarcelona.cat

Barcellona, Spain
  • January 2018
    07
    Sunday
    18:00 > 20:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    09
    Tuesday
    20:00 > 22:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    12
    Friday
    20:00 > 22:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    14
    Sunday
    18:00 > 20:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    16
    Tuesday
    20:00 > 22:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    18
    Thursday
    20:00 > 22:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    22
    Monday
    20:00 > 22:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    24
    Wednesday
    20:00 > 22:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    26
    Friday
    20:00 > 22:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
  • January 2018
    28
    Sunday
    17:00 > 19:45
    2 hours and 45 minutes
Find out more about the Cast , the Composition , the Composer or what the Reviews say

L'elisir d'amore

Cast

Press & Reviews

El Punt Avui
Valèria Gaillard
The magic formula
But above all, there was a lot of anticipation for the debut of the Australian Jessica Pratt in the role of Adina, and in this sense, the soprano did not disappoint at all. She embroidered the character both from the vocal point of view - with hypnotic and sparkling fioriture - and from the interpretative one. Pratt was an Adina proud and aloof, but also playful and seductive with the unfolding of the plot. More used to tragic roles, Pratt has shown that, if needed, she knows how to wear a floral dress and make a simple peasant go crazy. [...] her impressive voice, which sometimes climbs into impossible figures, makes you forget everything else.
Opera Actual
Fernando Sans Rivière
Barcelona: the success of a classic
Of the cast is especially noteworthy the debut in the character of Adina of the soprano Jessica Pratt; the Australian artist triumphs all over the world with her romantic bel canto repertoire and in Barcelona, ​​where she had already performed in Rossini's Otello - in a concert version - she depicted a very special character, highlighting her excellent line of singing and acting, very refined and fun, as well as a phrasing and a vocal registry with dream-like top notes that allowed her to add spectacular coloratura and variations that were greatly appreciated by the public.
Le Salon Musical
Federica Fanizza
Barcelona: Pratt triumphs in the Catalan elisir
Not available in English
Ma la vera trionfatrice e protagonista della serata è risultata, nei panni di Adina, il soprano australiano Jessica Pratt. [...] Delinea una Adina padrona e signora degli eventi, per questo aiutata anche da una regia che la denota come donna consapevole della scelta di accettare la proposta di Belcore. [...] Se nel primo atto domina una rappresentazione di Adina spensierata e scherzosa nell’atteggiamento di una che sa tenere le distanze con le dovute maniere, nel II atto delinea un personaggio che si assume tutte le responsabilità di una scelta sbagliata dando al personaggio una connotazione più lirica e malinconica che emerge proprio nel momento del confronto /confessione con Dulcamara. Suggestiva e penetrante risulta il duetto finale con Nemorino “Prendi, per me sei libero” con la cabaletta “Il mio rigor dimentica” con la quale Jessica Pratt ha dimostrato al pubblico quello di cui è capace di fare e che le riesce al meglio e con cui ha connotato la sua carriera di cantante d’agilità. [...] La Pratt ha introdotto variazioni alla cabaletta, rimanendo nella linea di canto impressa da Donizetti, ma arricchendola di terzine, picchettati e agilità che raggiungono il Fa sopracuto. In questo modo, come è sua consuetudine, ha impresso all’esecuzione il suo marchio personale, lanciando sfide vocali lungo il sottile filo delle agilità come uno scalatore in piena ascensione libera.
Olyrix
Emmanuel Andrieu
Jessica Pratt distills the elixir of love in Barcelona
...the star (undisputed as indisputable) of the evening was Jessica Pratt. For her debut, the British-Australian soprano served us with a very high-caliber Adina, as we rarely have heard. Thankful for having made us hear for the first time many numbers without cuts, such as the caballetta (fast and virtuous final episode) of the second act. She rises on the highest top notes, floated C's pianissimo, interpolated final high F's, not to mention a mindblowing E flat in the transition to the caballetta and breathtaking vocalizations: this great Pratt aria alone is worth the trip to Barcelona! ...this immense Bel Canto soprano walks in footsteps of her illustrious predecessor, Dame Joan Sutherland (also Australian), who was able (like Callas) to give back to Bel Canto it's true soul.

Bachtrack
Miquel Martínez
Mario Gas' elixir triumphs at the Liceu in Barcelona
The triumpher of the evening was undoubtedly the young Jessica Pratt who debuted in the role of Adina. ... She offered us a luxurious coloratura with diamond-like top notes, as well as an enviable control of the positioning of her voice. She also flashed some precious legati, as the consumed Belcanto interpreter she is. Pratt, whose career is in stellar acceleration and we hope to follow often from Barcelona, ​​has given us a delicious duet of "Prendi, per me sei libero" with such ease that made Donizetti's diabolical score seem easy.
In Fernem Land
Joaquim
Liceu 2017/18: l'Elisir d'Amore
Jessica Pratt [...] is a Bel canto soprano with an extraordinary class and an admirable style. ...vocally Adina is spectacular, especially in the second act, and of course in the “Prendi per me, sei libero” and corresponding cabaletta, where she set free a pyrotechnic voice, kept in check until then, making a nice show of very well executed scales, staccati, picchiettati, all the ornamentations of her own creation, mostly very appropriate, an elegant phrasing and, ultimately, a truly admirable bel canto style. Brava!
Operatraveller
Love Always Wins: L’elisir d’amore at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Jessica Pratt’s Adina proved that she has all of the necessary bel canto tools at her disposal: a genuine trill, impeccable coloratura, an ability to float phrases on the breath – she certainly has an impressive technique. She even gave us some stratospheric embellishments that were received with glee by a number of gentlemen in the audience. It’s a full and rounded soprano and undeniably impressive.
Ara
Xavier Cester
The elixir formula continues to be effective
...and this year the clear triumph was Jessica Pratt. The Bel Canto credentials of the Australian soprano where already showing during the first part of the show, with some overwhelming additions here and there, hinting to the fact that this determined Adina would have felt at ease with the vibrant fioriture of the final. And so it was in a "Prendi, per me sei libero" that Pratt decorated with great taste.

La Vanguardia
Jordi Maddaleno
Donizetti on full Gas
...the Australian soprano Jessica Pratt, in her debut with both the opera and the Liceu, stood out to the challenge. Great attention to the legato, pianissimi of great refinement and a stratospheric "Il mio rigor dimentico" (cabaletta with variations signed by Pratt) including of an interpolated high F that consecrated her debut in the role of Adina. She was the star of the evening.
Recomana
César López Rosell
Jessica Pratt, a great Adina in the production inspired by Mario Gas
The great triumpher of the evening was Jessica Pratt. The Australian soprano overcame the difficulties of her debut [...] little by little, thanks to the beauty of her timbre and the absolute domination of the coloratura at her side, she ended up excelling in the role. Light, free phrasing and the use of the best vocal pyrotechnic resources soon became dazzling. A reference Adina in sight.
Opera Online
Xavier Pujol
Gran Teatre del Liceu: That old dear Elisir
Australian soprano Jessica Pratt has a belcanto voice of great quality, with lovely lyrical lines, easiness for coloratura, great projection and skill in thinning the sound in the top of the register – which invariably wins the audience’s heart. She started by dosing her voice whilst studying the acoustics and ended up very well. Her “Prendi, per me sei libero” was of the greatest quality.
Nuvol
Jaume Radigales
The good old elixir at the Liceu
Jessica Pratt is an English soprano, raised in Australia and living in Italy, that made her debut in the role of Adina with this production. She moves well on stage, taking over the role in just over five minutes, with perilous singing variations, passing with full score, especially in the second act, thanks to her agility and final top notes.

Ara Balears
J. A. Mendiola
Drawbacks of memory
Jessica Pratt has been superb and has reached the peak of her performance with "Prendi, per me sei libero", in which she shown a whole range vocal tricks from the greatest belcanto tradition, dazzling the audience, from the finest top notes to the most impeccable pianissimi; this alone was worth paying for an evening at the Liceu.
Docenotas
Ovidi de Cardona
A successful flexible production
Soprano Jessica Pratt made her debut in the role of Adina on the stage in Barcelona with scenic authority and secure singing; her interpretation was no less, exhibiting a portentous technique and crowning her interventions with an apotheosis on the final number with agility and ornaments of her production.
Audioclasica
Germán Gan Quesada
An infallible elixir
...the flirtatious and capricious Adina was defended by Jessica Pratt's fitting coloratura, with careful low notes, a perfect control of the breath, with moments of great vocal exhibition, as in the case of the scene with Dulcamara "Quanto Amore!" and the splendid cabaletta "Il mio rigor dimentica";
Platea Magazine
Roger Alier
Ramón Tebar debues at the Liceu with "L'Elisir d'Amore" in the productiono Mario Gas
Even more appealing was the Australian diva Jessica Pratt, who donated the first Elisir d'Amore of her career to Barcelona, ​​including the agility variations of her final cabaletta (with an interpolated high F). Variations that the bel canto of the time allowed, and that won her a strong applause ...

Bellini News
Jorge Binaghi
L’elisir d’amore
... triumph of Jessica Pratt's Adina, very credible and above all, perfectly sung, with pyrotechnic acrobatics in her great aria, especially in the cabaletta with notable variations...
Gaudint del teatre
Victòria Oliveros Layola
L’elisir d’amore
The great triumpher of the evening was Jessica Pratt's Adina. The Australian soprano overcame the difficulty of the debut with this opera interpreting a vocally extraordinary Adina...
El Pais
Javier Pérez Senz
The elixir of Mario Gas maintains its freshness in the reprisal of the Liceu
Spectacular in the coloratura, with ornaments in the best tradition of bel canto and well projected top notes, Jessica Pratt triumphed as Adina, showing off the most spectacular tools in the second act.
El Mundo
Javier Blánquez
The elixir of Mario Gas, a miraculous remedy against bad mood.
... [Jessica Pratt] exploded with an arsenal of trills, improvisations and volumetric modulations combined with the sacred silence of the theater ...

El Punt Avui
Valèria Gaillard
'Bel canto' is profound and leaves a long lasting mark
The Australian soprano Jessica Pratt, considered the heir to Joan Sutherland, returns to the Gran Teatre del Liceu after singing Desdemona, from Rossini's Otello, two seasons ago. This time she enters from the main door and makes her debut in the role of Adina in the production of Mario Gas of L'Elisir d'Amore by Gaetano Donizetti.
El Periodico
César López Rosell
Magical love intrigue at the Liceu
Jessica Pratt makes her debut in the role of the heroine of Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore", which she calls "a free and independent woman". Started as a trumpet player, after 10 years of studying she decided to turn her career and move on to singing. Jessica Pratt, born in Bristol (England) but of Australian nationality, is today one of the stars of the romantic bel canto.

El Periodico
Marta Cervera
Jessica Pratt: "Some agents do not mind ruining a voice"
The acclaimed Australian singer premieres at the Liceu as Adina in the re-installation of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, set in Mussolini's Italy
L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love, pronounced [leli?zir da?mo?re]) is a comic opera (melodramma giocoso) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's Le philtre (1831). The opera premiered on 12 May 1832 at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan.
Synopsis
Act 1 Nemorino, a poor peasant, is in love with Adina, a beautiful landowner, who torments him with her indifference. When Nemorino hears Adina reading to her workers the story of Tristan and Isolde, he is convinced that a magic potion will help him to gain Adina's love. The self-important Sergeant Belcore appears with his regiment and immediately sets about courting Adina in front of everyone. Nemorino becomes anxious (although, Adina meanwhile secretly derides Belcore's complacency) and, alone with Adina, reveals his love for her. Yet Adina rebuffs him, saying she wants a different lover every day and following her example would do Nemorino better. Nemorino declares that his feelings will never change. The travelling quack doctor, Dulcamara (the self-proclaimed Dr. Encyclopedia), arrives, selling his bottled cure-all to the townspeople. Nemorino innocently asks Dulcamara if he has any of Isolde's love potion. Despite failing to recognise the name 'Isolde', Dulcamara's commercial talents nevertheless enable him to sell a bottle of the cure-all - in reality only cheap wine - to Nemorino, withdrawing all his savings. "Dr. Dulcamara" (Andrew Foldi), an itinerant quack and purveyor of "elixirs" and other tonics, gestures to "Cochise" (Bruce Cooper), his sly trumpet playing assistant, to call together the townspeople as he sings his Act 1 (Scene 2) aria "Udite, udite, o rustici" ("Hear me, hear me, o peasants") in a performance of the Cincinnati Opera's noted 1968 "Wild West" production of L'Elisir d'Amore in which the 1832 opera's setting was moved from a village in the Basque country to 1870s Texas. To make a safe escape, Dulcamara tells Nemorino the potion needs 24 hours to take effect — by which time, the doctor will be long gone. Nemorino drinks the potion in a haste in order to watch the effect tomorrow. Emboldened by the "elixir" (in fact, drunk), Nemorino feigns indifference when he encounters Adina, as he expects that the elixir will facilitate his conquest of Adina the following day. She becomes increasingly annoyed; perhaps she has feelings for Nemorino after all? Belcore returns and proposes marriage to Adina. Still riled by Nemorino and wishing to give him a lesson, Adina falsely promises to marry Belcore in six days' time. Yet Nemorino only laughs in response: such confidence is sustained in the belief in the magic potion. However, when Belcore learns that his regiment must leave the next morning, Adina promises to marry him before his departure. This of course panics Nemorino, who cries out for Dr. Dulcamara to come to his aid. Adina, meanwhile, invites everyone to the wedding. Act 2 Adina and Belcore's wedding party is in full swing. Dr. Dulcamara encourages Adina to sing a duet with him to entertain the guests. The notary arrives to make the marriage official. Adina is annoyed to see that Nemorino has not appeared, for the whole deal has been intended only to punish him. While everyone goes to witness the signing of the wedding contract, Dulcamara stays behind, helping himself to food and drink. Having seen the notary, Nemorino appears, depressed, as he believes that he has lost Adina. He sees Dulcamara and frantically begs him for a more powerful, faster-acting elixir. Although Dulcamara is proud to boast of his philanthropy, upon discovering that Nemorino now has no money he changes his tune and marches off, refusing to supply him anything. Belcore emerges, musing about why Adina has suddenly put off the wedding and signing of the contract. He spots Nemorino and asks his rival why he is depressed. When Nemorino says he needs cash, Belcore suggests joining the army, as he'll receive funds on the spot. Belcore tries to excite Nemorino with tales of military life, while Nemorino only thinks of getting the potion and thus winning Adina, if only for a day before departure. Belcore produces a contract, which Nemorino signs in return for the money. Nemorino privately vows to rush and buy more potion, while Belcore muses about how sending Nemorino off to war has so easily dispatched his rival. After the two men have left, Giannetta gossips with the women of the village. Swearing them all to secrecy, she reveals that Nemorino's uncle has just died and left his nephew a large fortune. However, neither Nemorino nor Adina is yet aware of this. Nemorino enters, having spent his military signing bonus on - and consumed - a large amount of the fake elixir from Dr. Dulcamara. Hoping to share his fortune, the women approach Nemorino with overly friendly greetings. So out of character is this that Nemorino takes it as proof of the elixir's efficacy. Adina sees Nemorino with the women, is rattled by his newfound popularity, and asks Dr. Dulcamara for an explanation. Unaware that Adina is the object of Nemorino's affection, Dulcamara explains that Nemorino spent his last penny on the elixir and joined the army for money to get more, so desperate was he to win the love of some unnamed cruel beauty. Adina immediately recognises Nemorino's sincerity, regrets her behaviour and realises that she has loved Nemorino all along. Although Dulcamara seizes the opportunity to try to sell her some of his potion to win back Nemorino, Adina declares that she has full confidence in her own powers of attraction. Nemorino appears alone, pensive, reflecting on a tear he saw in Adina's eye when he was ignoring her earlier. Solely based on that, he convinces himself that Adina loves him. She enters and asks why he has chosen to join the army and leave the village. When Nemorino explains that he was seeking a better life, Adina responds that he is loved and that she has purchased back his military contract from Sergeant Belcore. She offers the cancelled contract to Nemorino and reassures him that, if he stays, he will be happy. As he takes the contract, Adina turns to leave. Nemorino believes she is abandoning him and flies into a desperate fit, vowing that if he is not loved he might as well go off and die a soldier. Deeply moved by his fidelity, Adina finally declares that she will love Nemorino forever. Nemorino is ecstatic. Adina begs him to forgive her, which he does with a kiss. Belcore returns to see Nemorino and Adina in an embrace. When Adina explains that she loves Nemorino, the Sergeant takes the news in stride, noting that there are plenty of other women in the world. Adina and Nemorino learn about the inheritance from his uncle. Dulcamara returns and boasts of the success of his elixir: Nemorino is now not only loved but also rich. He exults in the boost this will bring to the sales of his product. As he prepares to leave, everyone queues up to buy the elixir and hails Dulcamara as a great physician.

Gaetano Donizetti

Short biography of the composer
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Born in Bergamo in Lombardy, was taken, at an early age, under the wing of composer Simon Mayr who had enrolled him by means of a full scholarship. Mayr was also instrumental in obtaining a place for the young man at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy Il Pigmalione. Over the course of his career, Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer's ninth opera, led to his move to that city and his residency there which lasted until the production of Caterina Cornaro in January 1844. In all, Naples presented 51 of Donizetti's operas. Before 1830, success came primarily with his comic operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. However, his first notable success came with an opera seria, Zoraida di Granata, which was presented in 1822 in Rome. In 1830, when Anna Bolena was premiered, Donizetti made a major impact on the Italian and international opera scene and this shifted the balance of success away from primarily comedic operas, although even after that date, his best-known works included comedies such as L'elisir d'amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843). Significant historical dramas did appear and became successful; they included Lucia di Lammermoor (the first to have a libretto written by Salvatore Cammarano) given in Naples in 1835, and one of the most successful Neapolitan operas, Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been set to Italian libretti. Donizetti found himself increasingly chafing against the censorial limitations which existed in Italy (and especially in Naples). From about 1836, he became interested in working in Paris, where he saw much greater freedom to choose subject matter, in addition to receiving larger fees and greater prestige. From 1838 onward, with an offer from the Paris Opéra for two new works, he spent a considerable period of the following ten years in that city, and set several operas to French texts as well as overseeing staging of his Italian works. The first opera was a French version of the then-unperformed Poliuto which, in April 1840, was revised to become Les martyrs. Two new operas were also given in Paris at that time. As the 1840s progressed, Donizetti moved regularly between Naples, Rome, Paris, and Vienna continuing to compose and stage his own operas as well as those of other composers. But from around 1843, severe illness began to take hold and to limit his activities. Eventually, by early 1846 he was obliged to be confined to an institution for the mentally ill and, by late 1847, friends had him moved back to Bergamo, where he died in April 1848.
Jessica has also performed in the following operas from the same composer:

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